Driving in Rocky Hill or on I-91? Watch out for these road closures
Project inspector: ‘We’re minimizing traffic disruptions’
ROCKY HILL – The state Department of Transportation will be closing Elm Street in Rocky Hill to thru traffic from June 14 to Aug. 9 as crews replace two bridges over I-91.
The 56-day closure will be detoured using West Street, Cromwell Avenue and Main Street until the road is reopened in August. The department will also close I-91 South in Rocky Hill on July 14 from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. and I-91 North on July 21 at the same times. Traffic will detour off Exit 23 and re-enter the highway near Exit 24.
“We’re minimizing traffic disruptions to the traveling public,” Dave Gentile, chief inspector on the project, said. “The Elm Street detour will be utilized through those 56 days.”
The project will replace two bridges over I-91 that were built in 1965 and are in poor condition. According to a release from the DOT, both bridges will be replaced with “single span steel girder superstructures.” The project is expected to cost $11.4 million and will be completed in October.
“There are four major goals in our bridge reconstruction project,” Gentile said. “Number one is to increase safety for the traveling public.”
Gentile said the other goals of the project are to minimize disruptions to the public, reduce future maintenance costs and use project funding efficiently.
“By reducing the timeline and by reducing the effect on travelers, it creates efficiencies for the Department of Transportation,” he said.
Gentile said other highway closures are possible, as the DOT needs to move large equipment between the construction locations. Those potential closures would happened on either a Saturday or Monday morning between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. Traffic will be detoured around the highway, Gentile said.
At a public information meeting in Rocky Hill, some residents worried about the various detours creating extra traffic in town, but Gentile said the DOT would be working closely with the town to make sure disruption was minimal to residents and local drivers.
“We’ll be monitoring traffic throughout the process,” Gentile said. “So if we have to make an adjustments on the fly, we can.”